SOU theater program a smash with students and stage professionals

Southern Oregon University's Theatre Arts Program is garnering praise from theater professionals, even as it turns away students because of a lack of space.

By Vickie Aldous

Southern Oregon University's Theatre Arts Program is garnering praise from theater professionals, even as it turns away students because of a lack of space.

Built in 1982, the Theatre Arts building was designed to accommodate 60 students.

The building now hosts 250 theater majors, said Program Coordinator Deborah Rosenberg.

Each year, 120 students want to get into the program but only 65 are admitted, she said.

"We only have two actual classrooms. We teach in the lobby. Kids rehearse in the bathroom," Rosenberg said.

The theater program needs $11 million to remodel its building and add classrooms, bathrooms, rehearsal space and other facilities, she said.

But with tight state funding for higher education needs, faculty members and students don't have high expectations that the money will come through.

The university is also seeking donors for the building remodel, Rosenberg said.

In the meantime, theater professionals in Ashland are praising SOU's students and a program that turns out well-rounded graduates.

"They are hard-working young people," said Oregon Shakespeare Festival Director of Company Development Scott Kaiser, who crisscrosses the country scouting universities for theater talent. "Most are putting themselves through school by working. They take classes by day and do shows at night."

Veteran OSF actor Michael Hume, who has directed students in SOU plays and taught in classrooms, said the students are hard-working, focused and savvy.

Last year, several aspiring stage managers in the SOU program asked him to write letters of recommendation, he said.

"I was able to say, 'These will be professional stage managers,'" Hume said.

Rosenberg said students are required to study multiple aspects of theater.

"We expect every student to understand all of theater," she said.

That helps break down the cliques and hierarchy that can develop in a theater company, and also creates multi-skilled graduates, she said.

"We have actors learning to sew for the first time. We have costume designers take acting and understand how scary it is to be on stage," Rosenberg said.

Some students who come into the program expecting to focus on one area, such as acting, discover they have talents in another specialty, such as costume design, she said.

The students take classes and also work on the six plays that SOU produces each year, Rosenberg said.

In a recent makeup class, aspiring actors, lighting designers, costume designers, technical directors and singers all practiced how to apply makeup to transform themselves into animals.

In a previous class, they became aliens, and in an upcoming class, they will replicate the blood and gore of wounds.

Senior Alex Groveman had dark circles around his eyes and had created the look of fur with makeup. He held up his source of inspiration, a photo of a snarling raccoon.

His classmates offered critiques of the results, with instructor Rosenberg guiding the discussion.

"Good luck with that rabies," Rosenberg told Groveman.

"Thank you," he responded. "I'm heading to the vet later."

Senior Laurel Livezey had given herself a wrinkled muzzle and brow, replicating the look of a pug dog.

She said acting is her main focus, but she's gained experience in all aspects of theater.

"Theater is so much more collaborative than people tell you," Livezey said. "You really have to know what each side goes through. I've been up in the catwalks adjusting lights. As an actor, I know how much work went into this one light that's hitting me. I know how much pressure everyone is under. It's empathy — knowing what everyone is going through and respecting that."

Senior Delaney Matson had turned herself into a "Planet of the Apes"-worthy chimpanzee.

She said she is learning the intricacies of a variety of jobs, including costume design, costume construction and stage makeup.

"I love it here. It's really great. I like that they're training us to be professionals, even though we're students," Matson said. "They expect us to be just as professional as they are."